Research Guide for Primary Sources: Primary vs Secondary

Primary Sources

What is a primary source?

Primary sources are documents, web pages, videos, etc., created by people or organizations directly involved in an issue or event. Primary sources are information before it has been analyzed by scholars, students, and others.

Some examples of primary sources:

diaries and letters

academic articles presenting original research

news reports from the time of the event

literature (poems, novels, plays, etc.)

fine art (photographs, paintings, sculpture, pottery, music etc.)

official records from a government, judicial court, or company

oral histories

speeches

autobiographies

Secondary Sources

Secondary sources analyze and interpret issues and events. Secondary sources are typically written by experts who study a topic but are not directly involved in events themselves. Also, secondary sources are usually produced some time after an event occurs and may well contain analysis of primary sources.